There are two airports on the Big Island, one at Kailua-Kona and one at Hilo, so it’s not surprising that these two places are the most popular with tourists. We flew into Kailua-Kona, which is a small seaside town on the west coast of the island. The town has two names because it originally started off as just Kailua (meaning “two seas” or “two currents”). However, the post office decided that it was too confusing with a Kailua already on O’ahu and another on Maui, that they renamed the town, Kailua-Kona. Locals use both names for the town but I will just refer to it as Kona.
We had been told that the Big Island is a lot quieter than O’ahu, but after arriving in Kona from bustling Waikiki, we were shocked at the difference. It was A LOT quieter than O’ahu! We strolled along Ali’i Drive, the main road that runs along the water, looking at the shops, restaurants and bars along the way and we didn’t have to jostle for a space on the pavement.
There happened to be an outrigger canoe regatta happening near the wharf, where it seemed the whole town was gathered (maybe this is why the streets were so quiet) yelling and screaming encouragement to their team. Xave was particularly interested in the racing because up until a few weeks prior, he had been involved with our local surf club in the surf boat rowing team.
The next day, we had seen all we could on foot and decided to hire bikes ($25 USD for 24 hours) to check out the beaches slightly south of the town. I don’t bike ride much at home and I had forgotten how much I enjoyed it. This is the best way to get around! We rode down the main street, Ali’i Drive, stopping along the way at the main beaches. Banyans (a surf spot) and Magic Sands (snorkelling and paddle boarding) were our two favourites places.
As we were riding back to town, we decided to stop off for a beer and saw a sign for Oceans Sports Bar advertising FREE nachos 3-5pm, so naturally we went there. I was expecting a handful of corn chips with a drizzle of salsa but it’s actually a serve yourself nachos buffet. It was surprisingly quite gourmet with different cheeses, olives, all types of sauces, meat and beans. You didn’t even have to buy a drink to have access to the nachos however I’m sure it would be frowned upon if you just came in for the free food. The bar is in quite a nice location, overlooking the ocean and surrounded by other cool cafes and bars. We came back to this area that night to listen to some live music and the following morning to a cafe for breakfast.
Every Country 